It is well known that plants need air, water, and light for growth. It is also known that plants purify air. The purification of air through plant leaves are well known. However, the role of complex biological and bacterial process of plant's root system in breaking down air polluting chemicals and suppressing the growth of microbes has only become understood in recent years.
Since the energy crisis in the 70's, new homes are being built with energy efficiency in mind. To achieve this, buildings tend to have less air circulation with the outside air and better seal around doors and windows. As a result of these changes in addition to wide spread use of plastics, paints and other synthetic materials and chemicals, the indoor air pollution have become a serious health problem, which resulted in the so called sick air syndrome. Several air purification planters and apparatus were proposed by U.S. patents such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,217,696; 5,269,094; 5,351,438; and 5,433,923. These patents suggest means to improve the interaction of air with the root system of the plants. Major deficit of these designs include 1) lack of sufficient water reservoir in the planter which increases the work of maintaining the plants, 2) relatively large variation of water level within the planter which is, in many respects, an undesirable consequence of being unable to control a constant water level in the planter.
On the market everywhere, there are many kinds of the so called "self watering" planters available to the public. There are very little difference among these planters. The basic feature of these "self watering" planters is a small water reservoir at the bottom of the planter with a water filling opening near the bottom of the planter side wall. A perforated divider separates soil from the water reservoir except that there are few studs or channels in the divider which extend down into the water reservoir and all the way to the bottom of the planter so that soil in these studs or channels were able to be submerged in the water at any given water level in the water reservoir. Capillary action of the soil is able to lift water to the root system and support plant growth. The disadvantages of these "self watering" planters include 1) the size of the water reservoir is usually small and the uncontrollable water level also changes with time, 2) the bottom exposed portion of the soil and the water reservoir are directly open to the ambient air through the water refill opening and thus mildew or microbe growth is a common problem.
This invention relates to a planter with a removable water reservoir/liquid bottle which is capable of maintaining a constant water level in the planter. Because the water reservoir/liquid bottle is exterior to the planter and removable for refill, the size of the water reservoir/liquid bottle may be made as big as one wishes. The neck of the water reservoir/liquid bottle mouth "plugs" into the opening of the planter thus minimized the direct contact of water and potting medium in the container with the ambient air and thus reduced or eliminated the problem of mildew around water in the planter.
With different inserts, the interface areas of ambient air with the potting medium and the root system is maximized, thus enhancing the effectiveness of air purification process by the root system. A lamp and a circulation fan are also provided. The location of the fan is imbedded within the potting medium and the water in the planter thus greatly reducing the vibration and noise level of the fan.
When inserting a full bottle of water to a drinking fountain stand, pouring a can of motor oil to the engine, pouring anti-freeze liquid to the radiator and in many other occasions, the liquid in the bottle is often too full and the receptacle spot has too small of an opening. Under these circumstances, one must act quickly or very often spill the liquid all over the place. The extended curved neck of the liquid bottle of this invention allows the bottle to be laid flat without spilling. The extended curved neck design even allows the user to raise the bottom of the bottle such that the liquid level inside the liquid bottle is higher than its mouth opening without spilling. This special feature makes the insertion and removal of water bottle from a drinking fountain extremely easy. In fact, this design simply makes the pouring of liquid from a container much more manageable with less chance of spilling.